Elite athletes from Hawai'i competing in national events

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

In places with names like Wheeling, W.Va.; Auburn, Ala.; West Point, N.Y.; Fayetteville, Ark.; Hutchinson, Kan.; Great Falls, Mont.; and Grand Forks, N.D., some of Hawai'i's elite college athletes are competing in national collegiate championship events this month.

• U. of San Diego freshman Ashley Swart (Kaiser '02) qualified in the 200- and 400-yard individual medley and 200 breaststroke for the NCAA Division I women's swimming championships at Auburn, Ala., tomorrow through Saturday. Her highest seed is 28th in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4 minutes, 18.27 seconds. Swart is the first U. of San Diego swimmer ever to qualify for the NCAA championships.

• Cornell (N.Y.) sophomore Travis Lee (Saint Louis '01 of Liliha) is seeded second in the 125-pound class in the NCAA Division I men's wrestling tournament tomorrow through Saturday at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo. Lee has a 29-0 record and if his injured knee holds up, he is expected to meet Purdue's Chris Fleeger in the final on Saturday. Lee was honored as Cornell's Athlete of the Week for his victory in the Eastern championships.

• Nevada sophomore Ryan Tanoue (Saint Louis '01 of Kaimuki), the 2002 NCAA air rifle champion, finished fifth in the 2003 championships last weekend at West Point, N.Y. Tanoue scored 390 of a possible 400 with 27 bulls-eyes.

• Michigan junior Vera Simms (Mililani '00) ran the third leg on a distance medley relay team that finished 11th in the NCAA Division I women's indoor track championships Friday at Fayetteville, Ark.

• Sophomore Brandy Richardson (Kalaheo '01) will start at forward in seventh-seeded UC-Santa Barbara's first-round NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament game Sunday against 10th-seeded Xavier at Lubbock, Texas. Richardson overcame her biggest weakness in last weekend's Big West tournament when she made 4 of 5 3-point attempts, raising her season percentage to 18.8. She had her sixth double-double (11 points and 10 rebounds) Friday against UC-Irvine.

• San Francisco State Joey Bareng (Moanalua '00) lost on a tiebreaker in the 125-pound quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II wrestling championships in Wheeling, W.Va., and was eliminated, 3-2, in the second round of consolation matches. Bareng finished 28-6, compared to last season's 18-19.

• Northern Colorado sophomore Saree Ho'opi'i of Pukalani, Maui, swam in seven events at the NCAA Division II women's swimming championships at Grand Forks, N.D. Her best finishes were seventh in the 100-yard freestyle in 51.94 seconds and ninth in the 50 freestyle, in which she won the "B" final in 23.86.

• Embry-Riddle junior Marcel Suehiro (McKinley '99) took eighth place in the 125-pound division at the NAIA men's wrestling championships March 8 in Great Falls, Mont. "The thing I admire about Marcel is that he is a little warrior," said his coach, Donnie Stevens. "He is a little small for his weight class, but he gives everything he's got and keeps coming after you."

• Western Nebraska Community College freshman Rashaun Broadus (Mililani '02) was expected to be the first guard off the bench when Western Nebraska (29-5) played its opening game last night in the National Junior College Athletic Association championship tournament in Hutchinson, Kan. Broadus has averaged 6.8 points in 14.7 minutes per game.

BASKETBALL

• Cal State-Los Angeles

In a surprise to absolutely no one, sophomore Monica Tokoro (Iolani '01 of 'Aiea) was chosen first-team All-California Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Tokoro is the No. 2 scorer in NCAA Division II with a 25.1 points-per-game average and is seventh in assists at 6.5 per game.

She needs 498 points and 51 assists to break the Cal State-L.A. career records. Averaging 18.4 points next season would set a new scoring record, and leave her another season to push it out of sight.

Tokoro had 653 points and 170 assists in 26 games this season.

• Los Angeles City (JC)

Julian Sensley of Kailua had 12 points and led 11 rebounds in a game-high 39 minutes of Saturday's California Community College men's championship game as L.A. City beat Fresno, 90-82.

Sensley scored 19 on 7-for-10 shooting in the state quarterfinal victory over Hartnell, 82-60. L.A. City won its final 23 games to finish 36-2.

If Sensley can earn his A.A. degree by the end of summer, he is committed to play at University of San Francisco next season.